Culture

4 Questions for Your Attention So much information, so little time. We’re saturated with information today. How do we take it all in? What do we do with it? On the heels of our nation’s birthday, how does all this information affect what kind of citizens we will be? As believers, just what should be our attitude toward knowledge? Attention, Knowledge, and Citizenship Megan Garber of The Atlantic quotes Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia Law School and the author of...

Digital Wellness, Applied Digitally William Wan of The Washington Post wrote last week, “In the modern economy of tablets and apps, our attention has become the most valuable commodity.” We scroll, we click, we post, we like – and our behavior exemplifies what B.F. Skinner called “variable rewards.” We keep looking and liking and sometimes, we get what we’re seeking. (Slot machines come to mind…) Looking for a remedy Now that we’re finally becoming aware of our behavior and its...

Engaging a Changing Culture with an Unchanging Message It appears that Christians have lost what Ed Stetzer refers to as “the Christian’s home court advantage.” In Stetzer’s post entitled “How We Lead in Times of Cultural Shift,” he names the Christian’s next challenge as a challenge of leadership. How then shall we lead? As our culture shifts, how are Christians to lead? Stetzer’s first suggestion is that Christians “stop fighting for the perception of cultural dominance that...

Who’s at the wheel? James Williams’s Sunday essay in The Guardian a few weeks ago begins with an apt metaphor. “Imagine that you’ve just bought a new GPS device for your car. The first time you use it, it works as expected. However, on the second journey, it takes you to an address a few blocks away from where you had wanted to go. On the third trip, you’re shocked when you find yourself miles away from your intended destination, which is now on the opposite side of town....

Balcony or Basement: The Way We Speak I interact with countless people everyday. Students, parents, colleagues, my own children, my husband, the cashier in the grocery store. And everyday I have a choice to make. Balcony or basement? Will my response lift someone up or pull them down? So many times a day, a look, a smile or frown, or an answer empowers me. I often don’t even realize that what I say and do will affect those around me. Oh, I get the big stuff – the compliment, the insult,...